The fear of uncertainty and the unknown often puts us into a state of flight, fight, freeze or fawn response. Many of us want to be certain before we’ll take that next step in our careers, make a decision that impacts our family or move ourselves out of our comfort zones into a place of growth and stretch. 

As the quote by Henry Ford says, “If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got”.

The result is that you are often left standing still, even though you want to move in a different direction. 

Does this sound familiar? 

Here are ten ways you can build your confidence, step out of your comfort zone and move to where you want to be.

Take action

Fear of the unknown and what might happen next holds us back. The opposite of standing still is to take action and to get things done. Small steps every day. You might be moving house, looking to lose 7lbs, working towards a promotion, building a business or growing your team. Break those goals into smaller steps. 

What can you do today that will be move you towards where you want to be? 

Build habits

If you’re a natural procrastinator, build a habit of taking action. Start to build the habits of the person you are when you’re at your best. It might be you’re overwhelmed by your inbox. Commit each day to being someone who manages their inbox by clearing out 20 emails, actioning however many emails work for you,and unsubscribe from mailing lists which add to your inbox volume. 

What is the one habit you can start to build into your day? 

Track and log wins

At the beginning of each day, look at the one thing you need to get done. If you’re avoiding it, break it down into smaller pieces. There are two phases – Eat the Frog and Chunk the Elephant. Eat the Frog is a management and leadership book that suggests you do the thing you don’t want to do first. Chunk the Elephant is to break the task into smaller pieces to make it achievable. Once you’ve achieved something, write it down, tick it off and see the progress you’re making!

Gain belief in yourself, don’t worry about what others think

Know yourself.  Build self-awareness so you know when you have done a good job, the best you can do so you no longer need or look for the validation of others. You’re more than good enough. Setbacks will happen and if you adopt a growth mindset and an abundance mindset you’ll find you start to build your confidence. 

Mindset 

One of the biggest factors that will build your confidence is your mindset. You might have heard of fixed, growth or abundant mindsets. A growth mindset looks to grow, embrace failing as learning and see challenges as opportunities. A fixed mindset believes everyone is born with the talents and skills they have and aren’t able to learn or grow. An abundance mindset is shifting your view to see there are more resources and people available than you might first have thought. How can you look and ask?

Accountability partner

Work with an accountability partner to help you see what you might not be able to see in yourself! An accountability partner can help you see your successes and wins, supporting you see your progress. Who can you ask to support you? A friend? A work colleague?Are you part of a group on LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook where you can ask if someone would support you?

Model 

I don’t mean take to the catwalk! Look at those in your life who you believe ooze confidence. Talk to them. See if they’ll give you time to explore how they found their self-belief, how did they overcome their own self-limiting beliefs and how do they build their own resilience to keep their wellbeing strong after disappointment? 

If you admire someone whom you don’t know, be brave and reach out to them. Ask them via direct messages, call or email to see if you can arrange time to talk. Readarticles and books to understand how they have mastered their confidence. Gain as much insight as you can from others to see how you can adopt those traits and skills for yourself based on your own growth areas.

Your own pace

Take your time. Look at where you want to be and look to avoid comparing yourself to others. You might want to run hard and put in new strategies quickly when you’re looking to build your new confidence skill. It takes timethough. Reflect on what works each time you do something new. What made it difficult or uncomfortablethis time? What is going to make it easier the next time? What do you need to do that you haven’t done yet? 

Visualisation – think long term

Picture and visualise where you want to be.

How do you look when you’re confident? 

How do you sound? What are you saying?

How does it feel?

What are you doing? 

Create that picture for yourself on a vision board, either electronically or by cutting out words and pictures from magazines. Keep your vision board where you can see it regularly. It will help you tap into those feelings, emotions and aspirations of what you aim to become. 

Consistency

Confidence is a muscle that needs to be worked so it can be learnt and built. Confidence doesn’t come with one single event. It would be brilliant if it did! Confidence comes from a series of small actions, tiny wins, successes and mindset shifts over time. 

Which one of these ten tips are you going to work on today?